Exactly, and that was against a team that eventually moved to max protect, which plays perfectly into the Stoops brothers' strengths. Here's the other thing about the defensive schemes - whatever you do has a domino effect on the rest of the game. Trevor Knight rightly gets a lot of credit for that game, but the reality is that he had 2 TDs practically gifted to him by the defense, not including the TD that the defense actually scored. When you're putting the OPPONENTS defense in tough situations because of the pressure you're creating with YOUR defense, you're helping your offense and your defense at the same time. Because if we don't create pressure and create those turnovers, Alabama gets an opportunity to get its running game going. And that screws the offense because your defense is on the field longer and your offense has further to go in order to get points.Originally Posted by PhiDeltBeers
What's so odd to me is that the coaches DO appear to "get" that sometimes. Like against WV when they were lighting us up in the first half, they DID switch to pressure/man after the half. And all of a sudden Holgerson has to go to max protect and it changes the entire flow of the game. We did this against Tennessee, and yeah we gave up a couple of bigger plays. But they scored 10 whole points and NEVER got comfortable enough to do consistent damage.
And look at Alabama/Tennessee, specifically. Both games we did give up some big plays. And yes, Alabama and Tennessee got in scoring position a few times. But in both games we created turnovers as the offense approached the redzone. Why? Because now you're not dealing with as much space, and it's easier to defend. And on top of that, players get nervous as they get closer to the endzone, and are more prone to mistakes.
It's just confusing and frustrating to watch.
